


Moonless Nights

by aeris7dragon



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 06:10:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/340815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeris7dragon/pseuds/aeris7dragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My headcanon of the alpha timeline before the alpha kids got there. (For future reference, John is kind of significantly older than Dave, like, ten years probably, but Dave isn't underage.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonless Nights

\--PROLOGUE--

Dave hated it when there was no moon.

It wasn't as if he was scared of the dark; far from it. He just loved the feeling of cool, white-blue light shedding down on his shoulders from a dark blue sky. When it was gone, the sickly yellow light of street lights took its place.

Tonight was one such moonless night. One of the lights flickered as he passed under it, and went dead, the lightbulb stained a pinkish-orange as the electricity faded from it. Dave paused in his trek home from the photography studio where he worked, shades perched atop his head, and looked up at the recently deceased light. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the cool metal of the pole, lost in thought.

He didn't know how long he stood there, thinking in circles, but then he was aware of a sound behind him; the earthy shamble of shoe against cement bade him turn around, and he did. Straight into the glazed eyes of a regular at the local place of inebriation. He rolled his own eyes and turned back the direction he'd been going before he stopped.

Then he felt a hand on his sleeve, gripping the fabric and forcing him to turn around and glare at the man.

“Dude, what the fuck's you're problem?” he demanded in a deliberately even tone. But then his eyes fell on a pin that stood out on the man's shirt collar; a red pin, deceptively small and insignificant.

In the shape of a spoon.

To most people this wouldn't be cause for alarm. However, Dave knew that simple logo was more than it seemed, and felt his eyes go wide despite himself. He attempted to wrench his arm from the other man's hand, but his grip was too tight. He was yanked forward into the man's leering face, and another hand reached up and pressed against his throat, forcing him painfully to the ground.

Dave cursed himself and his lack of focus as he reached up to try to pry the hand from his neck, but the guy was either a body builder or some other strong type of person, and Dave choked as his air supply was completely cut off, preventing him from yelling for help. His senses swimming, he fought to stay conscious. But after a few more moments of fruitless struggling, his eyes began to grow dark, and the hand on his throat only increased in pressure.

And then slackened off entirely, the man's weight becoming limp on top of him.

Dave coughed and lay still, too stunned at the moment to try and push the guy off of him, but someone else did the job for him. A hand appeared in his line of sight, and he took it subconsciously, hauling himself to his feet.

“Are you okay?” another man said, but Dave's vision was still blurred as he slowly recovered, so he couldn't exactly see who was talking. One thing for sure, it wasn't the one who'd attacked him.

“Fine,” he croaked. “My guard was down. 'Sabout it.”

“Oh, okay. 'Cause it doesn't look like you're standing very straight, heehee.” A hand was on his shoulder now, steadying him as he wobbled. “Come on, we should probably get outta here before that guy wakes up.”

Another hand was on his sleeve now, this one less aggressive yet more urgent, leading him in the opposite direction of his apartment. “Uh, dude, I don't live this way,” he said.

“I know – well, I didn't know that, but you're coming to my house. It's probably a lot safer at the moment.” The other man paused. “I guess you don't know me well enough for me to say that, though, huh?”

“You saved my fucking life back there, bro,” Dave pointed out. “Anywhere I go with you's probably safe enough.”

“Oh, good!” And the two were off again, footsteps slowing down a bit as they reached their destination. Dave had recovered well enough by then to see the man who'd helped him; though all he could see of him was the back of a messy black head of hair and the blue shirt he was wearing.

And then he was tripping on a two-step cement staircase. He regained his footing just before he lost it, however, and stayed upright as the guy in front of him fumbled the door open and led him inside.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” the guy giggled. “Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm John Cr – Egbert.”

“Dave Strider,” Dave replied. “Listen, Egbert, I'm having trouble standing up right now, so...”

“Oh, right! Well, I'd offer the bed, but the couch is closer and you look dead on your feet, so you should probably take the couch, huh?”

“I could have probably gotten to the bed right now, with how much you're chattering.”

“Oh, jeez, I'm sorry! Well, the couch is right over there.” John pointed.

“Thanks,” Dave said, making his way over to it while John traversed further into the apartment. He came back with a few blankets, which he threw over Dave.

“You hungry?”

“No. I could use some water, though.” Dave's eyes were beginning to close, and he reached up to take his shades off his head when he realized they were gone. They must have fallen when he was attacked.

“You got it.” And John was gone, leaving Dave to pull the blankets up to his chin and close his eyes completely. Within moments he was fast asleep.

There was more than one reason he hated moonless nights.


End file.
